


Like a token of me

by Estirose



Category: Xenogenesis Series - Octavia E. Butler
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28178202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: Tino is invited into a neighborhood house to have a chat.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Like a token of me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Marien](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marien/gifts).



"Morning, Tino!" Kerri called from her doorway, waving at him. "How are you?"

Tino waved back. Kerri and her partner Kimmi ran one of the two forges in Phoenix. Kimmi forged knives and machetes, while Kerri carved the wood for the handles and built hunting bows and arrows for the community. Tino's bow had been built by Kerri, in fact, bought by his parents as a gift for him. Kerri had been the one to give him wooden toys when he was younger and had always been warm towards him. 

"I'm good. You?" Tino asked leisurely.

"Good too. Want to come in for tea? I've got some brewing. It's not time to open up the shop yet."

The people of Phoenix had devised sundials, and then later on, clocks. "Sure," he said. Everybody had a clock - the other forge in town made the springs, being better at that kind of metalworking than Kimmi was - and they were delicate, prized possessions.

Tino hadn't had tea before everything happened. His mother drank the tea that was produced by one of the farms in Phoenix and said it wasn't the same as the tea before, but she said it was good enough.

Kerri motioned him to sit down at the kitchen table. She opened the door and yelled "Kimmi! Breakfast!" before shutting it again.

There was no breakfast for him, and none for Kerri - she probably woke earlier than Kimmi - but there was a bowl of something sitting on the kitchen counter.

As Kerri sat down, Kimmi came in, grabbed the bowl. "Morning," she said to Kerri, with a brief nod to Tino, leaning down briefly and pausing before ruffling Kerri's hair.

Then she was out the door, off to work at her forge. Kimmi had always been taciturn, preferring her forge to other people. She had black hair, brown eyes and was slightly darker skinned than the blond, hazel-eyed Kerri, but they had often seemed like sisters to Tino. "Kimmi's her usual self, I'm afraid," she said by way of half-apology. "I keep telling her that's why we're one of the smallest studios in Phoenix." But from her laugh, Tino could tell that she didn't mean it. They didn't make much, but what they did make and sell seemed to keep them comfortable. Their services were always in demand, it seemed.

"The bow's good," Tino said. "I was going to come here anyway and ask about more arrows."

"If you promise to get me something sheeplike or goatlike with one of them and bring it back, I'll make you a few. I want to experiment with something. I want to try to make a violin."

Phoenix had flutes, but no stringed instruments. People had tried but failed. But neither he, nor Kerri, nor anybody else would be growing old and dying anytime soon. He understood - it was something to do. Kerri had carved the staves and note blocks for the church's hymnals. She loved music.

"I heard you are planning to roam, Tino." She looked at him with concern. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

He hadn't said anything to her. Not to anyone, really. But Phoenix was a small town and everybody talked to each other.

"Not yet," he said cautiously. "Especially since I just promised you I'd bag you something." English was not his native language, so he hoped he'd said the right word.

Kerri laughed. "That's good. Kimmi and I have never had the desire to roam. It's not safe, even if we can defend ourselves. I know you probably can, but...." 

And she could. Both of them could, Tino knew. Occasionally people decided to try to raid Phoenix instead of trading with it, and he'd seen both women fend off attackers. Kerri had told him afterwards that she'd known nothing of how to defend herself before the war and destruction had happened. Kimmi had taught her, patiently. 

Kerri had been a city dweller, like his parents. She'd programmed computers before everything had happened. She'd never had to survive like she'd had before she and Kimmi had found Phoenix and stayed. The people of Phoenix wouldn't be half as armed without them.

"Would you go to the Oankali if you got bored of here?" he asked tentatively. Tate had told him the direction of Lo, a place where the Oankali and their humans lived. Slaves and pets, he'd been told. But Tate had wanted him to make his own choices. He was grown enough now, she'd said.

"Hell, no!" Kerri shook her head vigorously. "I'd die before that. I mean, I don't hate the people who have - it's their choice to live like they have, even if Kimmi disagrees with me. I think they made their choices the best way they could, same as all of us. But Kimmi doesn't want to be told when she's having kids and what sex, and I never wanted any, so there's no way in fucking hades that I'm ever going to go. I liked kids before everything happened, but only if I could give them back at the end of the day. And pregnancy fucking scares the hell out of me. But if you do go to one, and you decide you want that life? I'll support you 100% of the way, Tino, and I'd be happy to meet your kids. The Oankali - at least their bodies - didn't bother me as much as they did other people."

Tino nodded. Nobody in Phoenix liked the Oankali, for one reason or another. He hadn't heard Kerri say anything about it before, probably because her fairly mild views on the Oankali would probably hurt her sales. The fact that she was willing to admit this told him she trusted him. And he would do nothing to betray that trust.

"Tell me when you're planning to roam for more than just game, and Kimmi and I'll make you an extra bunch of arrows. You or your dad or mom can pay for them later." _If you want,_ her tone implied. A last gift to him, in a way, just in case he didn't come back.

"I will," he promised. There would be no fanfare, no excitement when he left. Some lost hope, he knew. But there was more to this world than what he had seen, and he had to know. He had to understand why the war had happened, why they were now in the state they were in. Even with the books that Phoenix publishers had created, he still did not.

"Sip your tea. Do you want breakfast as well?" Kerri asked. She looked at him with concern.

"No, I already had some thanks. Oh! Mom was wondering if she could order some bowls from you." There was a reason that he'd come in, and not just to chat with Kerri.

"I'll talk to her about what she wants. I need to take a walk anyway." There was amusement in Kerri's voice. "You're not too far out of the way I was planning to take today anyway." Phoenix was mostly safe, after all. People defended the town and each other, even if they hated each other sometimes. Women didn't have to worry much about being carried off because there would be others to defend them. They were kind people, all of them, at least that's what Tino thought.

"Thanks." There was nothing more to be said, about his plans, the tea, or his mom's order. "I'd better be going."

"I'll drop by your house with the arrows," Kerri said. "Let me know when you need more."

"I will," he promised. It was a promise that he could keep.


End file.
